Makoto and Haru's Secret
by ArtemisNakajima
Summary: Haruka Nanase saved Makoto's life, but his reaction was somewhat unexpected.


The torrential rain hit the earth, the droplets combining to form tiny rivulets, which made their way down the beach and into the ocean. The only thing that barred the way of the incessant flow of water were the four bare feet. Two of them stumbled up the sloped beach while the other were dragged through the sand as the other carried them.

Haruka held onto a tall blond boy as he rushed up the beach. Haru's deep raven colored hair was plastered to his face and his toned body was covered in water. His low-riding swimsuit hugged his hips as he walked, and his deep blue eyes were filled with terror, but not for himself. For the boy he carried over his shoulder.

Makoto wasn't breathing. Haru had pulled him from the water as soon as they reached land, but he feared it would be too late. The rain made its way down his face as he climbed, and he hazarded a look at Mako. He still had that beautiful serene look on his tanned face, his shaggy dusted hair hanging over his face much in the same way as Haru's. But the look on his face was because he was dying, and Haru tried in vain to hold back his tears. Eventually, he was unable to hold Mako anymore. He dropped him to the ground, holding back the emotions he hated for as long as possible. But Mako mattered too much to him. Even more than he realized. He crouched next to Mako, screaming his name as the tears ran down his face. He grabbed him, yelling,

"Mako!" He shook Mako's shoulders with as much force as he could muster, crying painfully. The level of terror in his body continued to grow until it was almost unbearable, and he continued to shake Mako. He kept screaming his name, but Mako wouldn't wake. His head just slid back and forth, water leaking from his partly-open mouth.

"You can't drown! I – I – It can't kill you! You're a swimmer! You have to wake up! PLEASE!" Haru yelled, but Mako couldn't hear him. Haru squeezed his eyes shut, his resolve crumbling. He had never felt this terrified in his life. He opened his eyes again, staring into Mako's face, overwhelmed with an emotion he had positively never felt before, and couldn't place. He shook it off, the tears flying out into the sand as he continued to scream.

"HELP! HELP!" But no-one came. Haru was on his own, and he had already wasted precious seconds screaming for help. He bent back down, for he had stood up, and as he stared at Mako he realized exactly what he would have to do. He clenched his fists, biting his lip as he stared at Mako's chest. He bent down, checking his heartbeat. The slight pumping of Mako's heart allowed Haru a small sigh of relief, but as he angled his cheek to Mako's mouth, he realized with a start that Mako was barely breathing. They were short, spasming breaths, as though he has something in his lungs, which of course he did. The water in his lungs was impeding his breathing, and if Haru didn't get it out and SOON, Mako would die. Haru breathed in shakily, leaning down above Mako's face. Then he pinched Mako's nose, tilted up his face, and pressed his mouth to his.

Haru blew out, breathing for Mako, but it didn't seem to be making any difference. Haru pulled his face away and turned Mako on his side, hitting his back. He screamed out for Mako to wake up, to open his eyes at least. He cried, releasing Mako and sitting back on his knees as he pressed his hands to his face. After a few moments, Haru leaned forward and pulled Mako back onto his lap. He brushed his soaked hair out of his face as he sobbed, holding Mako's face up in the crook of his elbow. Haru's face was a sight; his eyes were bloodshot, his whole face was red and puffy, and the tears all over his face made him look much less handsome. He pressed Mako's forehead to his own, his arms around Mako's shoulders. Haru pulled back, staring into Mako's face and realizing something.

"Mako, you have to wake up!" He yelled into his best-friend's face. Then he said,

"I don't think I could live without you. O-or, it's not that I couldn't, it's that I don't think I would ever want to live in a world without you in it." He continued to cry, before he finally said.

"I think it's because I love you."

Mako's eyes flew open.

Mako retched, turning over on his side and coughing up seawater. His body shook with spasms of pain as he breathed in shakily. Haru shuddered, moving back and giving Mako the space to clear his lungs. He knew he should be happy, and he was; beyond belief, but he felt the tears well up in his eyes, and he was overcome with emotion again. He pressed his face into his hands, sobbing with obvious pain. Mako hacked, turning towards Haru.

"Wh…wha… at did you just say?" He asked, his throat raw. He was staring directly as Haru, a look of curiosity and hopefulness on his face.

"I *shudders* I said I would never want to live in a world without you, because I—I…" Haru shoved his face back into his hands, unable to finish. Mako, having recovered surprisingly quickly, slumped over to Haru, placing his arm over his shoulder and wiping the tears from Haru's face.

"It's okay. I'M okay," he said in an attempt to calm Haru. Haru just wept, the tears rolling down his face like miniature waves. Mako, worried for Haru (he had never seen him cry before), slipped in front of him, pulling his hands away from his face and wiping away the new accumulated tears. He then tilted Haru's chin up to the same height as his own and smiled down into his eyes.

"I know what you mean." He leaned closer to Haru.

"I don't think I would want to live in a world without you either."

"Wha—" started Haru, but he was cut off by the look on Mako's face. Haru felt an unfamiliar lust fill his body, and he stared at Mako. Mako had a look on his face that made Haru want to kiss him, more than anything he had ever wanted to do before. Haru shook his head, trying to dislodge the thoughts before they could take root. He shouldn't be having these sorts of thought about his best friend. He looked down, a blush rising on his cheeks.

"Haru, are you BLUSHING?" Asked Mako, getting even closer to Haru. He tilted Haru's face up so he could look him directly in the eyes once again. Mako smirked at him, smiling. Then he cocked his head to one side and winked.

Haru completely lost control, launching himself forward and kissing Mako directly on the mouth. Mako laughed, falling backwards with Haru on top. Mako kissed him back, pressing his mouth into Haru's, whose eyes went wide. He hadn't expected Mako to kiss him back… actually, he didn't know WHAT he expected. He'd just kissed him. For no reason. And was now lying on top of him, kissing him with a passion he never thought he could have.

"Hey, Mak-" shouted Nagisa, a small blond-haired boy with a good sense of humor. He and Rei, a blue haired post-track team school-centered swimmer, were both on the Iwatobi swim team with Haru and Mako. They ran towards them, but the sight that they were met with was one which they did not expect. Rei looked extremely confused, but Nagisa just burst out laughing. He bent over, perching one of his arms on his knee while he pointed at Haru and Mako with the other.

"Hahaha! I TOLD you they were gay! DIDN'T I, Rei? I told you they were in love!" He laughed, directing this outburst at Rei, who immediately looked uncomfortable, which was weird. He was never uncomfortable around Nagisa; in fact, it was just the opposite. He and Nagisa were such good friends that Rei was always completely relaxed around him. But for some reason, he looked tense.

"They're not the only ones," he mumbled to himself, to quietly for anyone else to hear. Except Nagisa.

"What didja say?" He asked bouncing up and down. "Who else?" Rei looked down, embarrassed to have been heard. He turned to Nagisa, a small smile forming on his face. Then he rushed over and jumped on Nagisa.

"Whaa—!" yelled Nagisa, but it was cut off by Rei's kiss. They fell to the earth, Nagisa yelping in protest when his head hit the ground. When Rei pulled away, Nagisa immediately felt cold.

"What'd ya do that for?" He asked, staring at Rei. Rei grimaced, glancing to the side as he scratched the back of his head.

"Well, I saw Haru and Mako kissing back there, and I sort of realized I wanted to kiss you. I'm sorry," He started to get up off Nagisa, feeling humiliated, but Nagisa reached out and grabbed a fistful of Rei's shirt in his right hand.

"You ain't lettin' me off that easy, are ya?" asked Nagisa, pulling Rei back down and locking lips with him again. They both were a deep beet red in the face, smiling at each other in a similar way to the way Mako and Haru looked at each other. Their voices soon ceased, and the only sound that could be heard were Nagisa and Rei's kissing. Haru and Mako, having pulled apart only moments earlier, looked at Rei and Nagisa before staring back at each other. Then they grinned, having only noticed the rain had stopped. They helped each other up, but it wasn't their destinies to stay standing. The water was now calm, so when Haru and Mako reached the water, Mako shoved Haru in and proceeded to jump in after him.

Mako had been scared of the water, but with Haru out there with him, he wasn't. It was as though Haru had put some sort of magic spell on him; when he was in the ocean with Haru, he was perfectly fine.

"Mako!" called Haru, pointing to the beach where all their camping supplies rested. He began to swim towards it, Mako following suit. Turning around, Mako saw Nagisa and Rei doing the same thing.

Reaching the beach out by their campsite, Haru and Mako stumbled up the beach, overcome with exhaustion. They sat on the sand farther up the beach from Rei and Nagisa, who had started kissing again. Haru glanced towards Mako, who had a devilish look on his face. Haru felt his face heat up, and Mako took this as a good sign. He leaned forward and kissed Haru lightly on the mouth, but was kissing him much more deeply within seconds. Then the sound of Gou-chan and Ama-chan's voices flitted across the beach, and Haru pulled away from Mako, when he leaned in again, Haru put his finger on Mako's lips feeling them curve up into a smile. Gou-chan rounded the bend with Ama-chan and began to come down the stairs. Nagisa and Rei were still kissing on the beach, so Haru and Mako yelled hello to Gou and Ama, notifying the distracted couple that their teacher was coming, along with their friend Gou, who was absolutely obsessed with muscles. She couldn't get enough of them.

Nagisa pulled away from Rei, pointing up the beach. The two of them sat up, flushed with heat. They sat shoulder to shoulder on the beach, their toes in the water as they laughed about something. Haru and Mako began to talk, their shoulders hunched together, as Gou and Ama finally reached the bottom of the stairs. Gou looked mad; she hated being left out of things. The sun on the horizon blinded her eyes, so she covered them with a hand and yelled to them to start practice. He excused were numerous, but they included,

"You'll never keep those beautiful muscles (she swooned) if you don't practice!" and,

"You guys will never get girlfriends if you don't get to practicing now!" Haru and Mako had already been on the verge of laughing (Nagisa and Rei were already shrieking with laughter down by the water), but this last comment sent them over the edge. The two of them started laughing uncontrollably, holding each other up as they laughed.

"Eh?" Gou stared at Haru, her eyes bulging out of her head. She did not expect to see Haru laughing. It lit up his entire face, making Haru look like the happiest person in the world. And in his heart, Haru truly thought he was.

"You're laughing," Gou said, answering the question that hung in the air. She continued to stare, saying,

"You never laugh." Haru and Mako, having gotten control of their overzealous emotional reactions, felt internally angry at Gou because this comment started them laughing again. They snickered, staring into each other's eyes with the overwhelmed and excited smiles of stargazers. Gou looked extremely confused, but none more when Mako gave Haru a look that asked a question.

 _{Can I kiss you?}_ his eyes seemed to ask. Gou was staring at the two of them, and she didn't move. Her eyes were still the unnatural size of oranges, and she seemed to be unable to control herself. Mako looked at her before turning back to Haru, a sly look adorning his face. _{Let's give her something to freak out about}._ Haru smiled and moved towards Mako.

When they started kissing, Gou screeched,

"Whaaat?!" She looked at them, "But you're not gay."

Haru's last thought was,

 _Oh, she has NO IDEA._


End file.
